Intake valve



May' 3,1927. 1,627,032

J. E. HARRIS INTAKE VALVE Filed July 20, 1925 2 Sheets-Shee*v 2 PatentedMay 3, 1927. i

UNITED STATES JASON E. HARRIS, OIF HOWARD, KANSAS.

INTAKE Applica-tion filed July 20 This invention relates to intake valvemechanisi'nv for internal combustion engines ot that type in which aseries of cylinders Vare disposed to rotate around a stationary crankshaft or in which a revolving crank shaft'is Vdisposed centrally betweenand inV radial alinement with a series of stationary cylinders, and myobject is Ato produce a con- VALVE. K

1925. `serial no. 44,760.

forming any part of the invention being omitted.

Figure 2 is an enlarged fragmental section of Olne of the cylindersAdisclosed by Figure cylinder but taken at right angles to the sectiondisclosed'by Figure 2, the section .line

struction in which there is .an intake valve in being indicated by thedotted line III-HI the head oit each piston, and in which angularchanges of -relation between each cylinder and its piston connecting rodresults in opening movement otthe respective intake `Valve at theinitial quarter of every alternate revolution of the cylinders or shaft,and means for 'closing the valve on the ensuing quarter revolution, asthe angularly related parts are resuming their initial or non-anl gularrelation.

A further lobject is to provide means actuated bypressure produced bycompression or explosive force lbetween the head of the pist-'on andcylinder, for preventing angular changes between the cylinder andconnecting rod, from effecting the opening of the valve Ifor the ensuingone and a fraction revelution,` and means upon a suitable reduc"- tionof such pressure, for positioning the parts in their original relationso that at Lor near the beginning of the next or third revolution, theensuing `change of angular relation between `the pist-on and connectingrod shall again lopen the valve, :this cycle of operations being similarfor each cylinder and its related valve mechanism, so that in a fourcylinder .lour cycle engine, .there Ashall be lan average Vof twoexplosions `for `each revolution of the cylinders or crank shaft.

A still. iturtherobject is to produce a inechanism Vot `the characteroutlined, which is 'of simple, strong and relatively .inexpensiveinstruction` vand in which carbon deposits upon the 4valve Aor its seatwill tend to .guard against rather than result in loss of pressure andimpairment of `eiliciency of operation of the engine.

llVith VAthese objects in view the invention consists in certain noveland useful features ot lconstruction and combinations of parts ashereinafter described and claimed; yand in order 'that it maybe fullyunderstood reterence is `to be had to the accompanying drawings, inwhich 'Figure l is a Vcentral lvertical section of an internalcombustion engine embodying .my invention, certain parts of the lengineYnot of Figure 2.

Figure 3 is a section through the same Figure 4 is a cross section onthe line Ivi-IV of Figure 3.

Figure 5 -is a cross section on V-V of Figure '3. i

the 'line Figure 6 is a cross section corresponding. to Figure 5 butshowing the valves open as distinguished from Figure 5, wherein saidvalves are shown as closed.

Figure v7 is a longitudinal section ofthe cylinder taken on the lineVII-VII of Fi gure 6.

Referring tothe drawings in detail, l indicates the customary or anypreferred shaft suitably journaled in a frame or standard (notwshown)and 2 is the crank oit .said shaft. 3 is the crank case of the engineand 4, 5, 6 and 7 indicate in this instance theA cylinders of afour-cycle engine, provided .at

their outer ends with hemispl-ierical heads or closures in order thatthe explosive forces shall be concentrated centrally upon the outer endsof the pistons 8, which being of like construction are identified bycorresponding reference characters.

The pistons Yare provided at diametrically opposite sides with internalbearing hubs .9 for cross pinslO connected centrally to the outer endsof the connecting rods 1l pivoted a't their Vinner ends in any suitablemanner on the shaft crank 2. As the cylinders 4are shown in vthe samevertical plane and it is desirable `that the inner .ends or' theconnecting rods shall .be inthe same pla-ne, a special bearing 11'l1 isprovided, which however, is capable of independent yuse and is thereforenot detailed. The special construction and operation of said bearingforms the subject matter of a co-pending application.

Each connecting rod is provided at its outer end with a lug 12. vandeach piston with `one or more, two .in this instance, conicalintake-valve seats 13 having ports 14, and engaging said :seats forrotary action, are .inta-ke-valves'l provided with central stems 16kprojecting inwardly longitudinally of the lrespective pistons. lThevalves are provided with diametrie ports 16a for registration at timeswith the respective ports 14, and springs 17 encircle and are secured tothe stems and are anchored at their opposite ends to the bearing lug 9'lor the purpose of normally holding the valves substantially in theposition shown by Figure 5, Which is their closed position. Pivoted inhiirurcation in the stein 1 6 ot the valves are rocker arms 18 havingball and socket connections 19 at their inner lends which permit ot alimited rotary movement of the valves and also ot pivotal movement ofthe rocker arms longitudinally oi' the piston for the purpose ofdisposing the connected ends of said arms in the path ot' swingingmovement of the lug 12 or beyond the range of movement of said lug, sothat at time-s the latter may in changing its angular relation to thecylinder, either engage said rocker arms andtheretore turn the valves toopen position againstthe oppositionot spring 17, or pass said arms so asto avoid imparting opening movement to the valves.

Pivoted in a biliurcated lug 2O of the piston and standing in a planeradially thereof, is a 'torked lever 2l, the fork et the level.'receiving the .inner ends of the rocker arms for the purpose oliswinging them longitudinally ol' the piston, as hereinbetore explained.The outer end of the lever has a pin-and-slot connection at 23 with thestem 2l ot a plunger 25 engaging a socket 26 formed in the head of thepiston. in eX- pansive coil spring 28 lits on the stem 2/-l and hears atits opposite ends against the lug- 2'? and the outer end ot the leverand tends, vvhen unresisted, to advance the plunger 2:3 and to therebyrock the lever and cause it to dispose the rocker arms in the path olmovement oit the lug l2, a collar 2) on the inner ends of stem 2li.being adapted to arrest the plunger movement hy contact with the lug 27.

liiith the parts in the relative positions shown and the cylindersturning clockwise, and :issun'iing that cylinder 4l; is void of exhaustgases, it will be seen by reference to Figure l, that as the plunger isadvanced because oli the pressure ot spring 28, the lever 2l has movedthe interlocked ends of the `rtufkcnf arms Within the path ot move-.ment olf the lug l2, which in the relative change ot angular positionwith respect to the cylinder as the latter moves eccentrically ot theconnecting rod, applies lateral pressure on said rocker arms and throughthem, elleets rotary opening movement of; the vali-'es l5, t'rom theposition shown by Figure to that shown by Figure 6, this valve movementstarting when the cylinder is approximately above the crank sha'tt andending ivhen it has attained the position approximately shown bycylinder 5, ot' Figure l, the cylinder 4: and its piston connecting-rod,at-

taining their extreme angular relation as the valve attains its fullyopened position. An explosive mixture supplied to the crank ease in anysuitable nianner, passes into the combustion chamber ol' said cylinderthrough the opened valves during this movement and during the ensuingquarter revolution ol the cylinder, durii'ig which second quarterrevolution thc valves are closingunder the power ol springs li', as atsuch time the angular 'elution ole the cylinder and connecting rod .isdiniiinishiug, it being noted 'that the piston continues ou its suctionstroke from the time it leaves its initial position until it attains theapproximate position occupied by cylinder G.

the cylinder starts on its third quarter revolution, the piston beginsits advance or connjiression stroke, and as the pressure thus producedovercomes the power of spring 28, the plunger 25 recedes, and throughlever 2l, withdraws rocker arms 18 from the path ot' movement ot the lugl2, as shown by re terence to cylinder 7, so that the lug cannot etl'ectthe reopening of said valves.

l'ly the time cylinder 4l has attained upprorimately its originalposition as shown in Figure l., the explosive mixture is fullycompressed and the explosion occurs. The force ot the explosionrepresses and retains the plunger 25 retracted tor a Jfull haltrevolution or more, so that during such period ot travel the rocker armsare out ot the path ot' lug l2 and the changes ot angular relationbetween the cylinder and :onnecting rod llave no eittect on the valves.irplvn'oximately at the beginning ot the last halt oli the revolutioninduced by the explosion when the piston starts its scavenging stroke,the exhaust valve (not shown) opens and the pressure in the conibustionchamber dissipates rapidly, and shortly betere the piston attains itsinitial position, the pressure is low enough to permit the spring 28 toreadvanrc its plunger and thereby redispose the roel-:er arms in thepath ot movement ot lug l2, so that the latter, at the beginning ol thethird revolution, shall again engage the rocker arms and start theopeningI movement ot the valves. lt will thus be seen that in everyother revolution, ot a four cylinder 'tourcycle engine of thischaracter, the conventional tvvo power strokes occur, and that the freshmixture drawn through the pistons tends to prevent excessive heatingthereof and ot the cylinders. It will also be apparent that theeliiciency of an engine of this type cannot be impaired by loss ofcompression, as the rotary valves will utilize carbon to maintainperfect fitting on their seats. The itull power ott' the explosions isalso secured as the arched heads of the cylinders centi-alize the torceot the explosions on the pistons.

From the above description, it will be ap- Ilo parent that I haveproduced a device which possesses all of the features of advantagepointed out as desirable, and while I have described and claimed thepreferred embodiment of the same, I reserve the right to make allchanges properly falling within the spirit and scope of the appendedclaims.

I claim:

l. The combination of a shaft having a c 'a'nk, a crank-case inclosingthe crank of the shaft, and a cylinder connnunicating at its inner endwith the crank-case, a piston in the cylinder and a connecting rodbetween the piston and said c "ank, the piston having an intake port inits head, of a. rotary valve carried by the piston head for controllingthe port thereof and provided with a stem eX- tendinglongitudinally ofthe piston, a rocker arm pivoted on said stem, means actuated bysuliicientl pressure y in the combustion chamber of the cylinder tooperate the rocker arm, a'nd means actuated by a change of angularrelation between the piston and the connecting rod, to4 apply lateralpressure on the rocker arm and effect rotation of the valve to openposition.

Q.. The combination of a shaft having a crank, a crank-case inclosingthe crank of the shaft, and a cylinder communicating atv its inner endwith the crank-case, al piston in the cylinder and a connecting rodbetween the piston and said crank, the piston having an intake port inits head, of ai rotary valve carried by the piston head for controllingthe port thereof and provided with a stem ex.- tending longitudinally ofthe piston, a rocker arm pivoted on said stem, means actuated bysufficient pressure in the combustion chamber of the cylinder to operatethe rocker arm, means actuated by a change of angular relation betweenthe piston and the connecting rod, to apply lateral pressure on therocker arm and effect rotation of the valve to open position, and meansto effect the reclosure of the valve.

3. The combination of a shaft having a crank, a crank-case inclosing thecrank of the shaft, and a cylinder communicating at its inner end withthe crank-case, a piston in the cylinder and a connecting rod betweenthe piston and said crank, the piston having a pair of intake port-s ofa pair of valves for controlling said ports, having parallel stems,rocker arms pivoted in said stems and hav` ing a ball and socketconnection between the stems, ai forked lever engaging the rocker. arms,a plunger in the piston head, having a stem connected to operate saidlever, a

lspring for advancing the plunger to cause controlling said ports,having parallel stems,

rocker arms pivoted in said stems and having a ball and socketconnectionbetween the stems, a forked lever engaging the rocker arms, a plunger inthe piston head, having a stem connected to operate said lever, a springfor advancing the plunger to cause the lever to move the connected endsof the rocker arms inwardly of the piston, means actuated by theconnecting rod to apply lateral pressure on the rocker arms to rotatethe valves to open position, and means to close the valves whenV thelateral pressure is removed from said rocker arms.

5. The combination with the combustion chamber of an engine, of a pistonand connecting rod, a valve in said piston,an operating connection forsaid valve whereby a. predetermined change in the angularity of theconnecting rod shall effectoperation of the valve, and control meansaffected by a predetermined pressure in the combustion chamber forcontrolling the position of said valve operating connection.

In witness whereof I hereunto affix my signature JASON E. HARRIS.

